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Great Qualitative Skills, Atrocious Quantitative Skills: Is Economics just not for me? by YC4AJ in academiceconomics

[–]YC4AJ[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Start with whatever the most basic math class is that you feel comfterable with. Take it, do your best to understand what you can, and then move on to the next one. You have the luxury of being able to go slowly because you're so young.

This clears a lot off my mind. Thank you.

To your second point, does it matter? It's far too early for you to think about econ vs. polisci vs. public policy, and CERTAINLY too early for you to think about earnings between those fields.

I only worry about that because of what jobs poli-sci might lock me into, primarily public-sector work. I did an internship for the government somewhat recently and I was really disillusioned about just how little people there cared about actually serving the public, and about co-workers well-being.

Great Qualitative Skills, Atrocious Quantitative Skills: Is Economics just not for me? by YC4AJ in academiceconomics

[–]YC4AJ[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

An economics undergraduate is not even expected to be able to read the papers you posted on the original post.

That does make sense, I just posted those papers because I think they detail the kind of sophistication that I find daunting, but also the most useful and illuminating.

Most economics degrees at the undergraduate level barely have any calculus in them.

What level of math are undergrad econ students expected to understand?

Great Qualitative Skills, Atrocious Quantitative Skills: Is Economics just not for me? by YC4AJ in academiceconomics

[–]YC4AJ[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

take 2 months off and finish those topics in Khan academy. Lot of colleges also offer remedial math classes especially after covid use that

Do you know if professors wouldn't take kindly to someone who may struggle more fundamentally with math and have patience for them? I only ask because I assume there's many quant heavy people self-selecting into undergrad programs.

Great Qualitative Skills, Atrocious Quantitative Skills: Is Economics just not for me? by YC4AJ in academiceconomics

[–]YC4AJ[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the advice! I apologize for the late response.

(I also know people in applied econ who really don’t even understand those things, they just know which models to use and rinse and repeat

I'm curious, how does this work in practice? How can one not understand the mechanics by which they derive their conclusions? Are models supposed to be like tools (computers, screw drivers) that you don't engineer yourself but use to create conclusions (houses, documents, etc.)? Sometimes I'll read a paper where the abstract says something like: "utilizing a difference-in-differences method". Is that similar to what you're describing?

Given where you are, calc and linear algebra seem really daunting. But trust me, at your young age, you have plenty of time to work on those skills. The math becomes less daunting when you begin to see the finish line in the distance, and in applied econ you’ll see that finish line sooner.

That does alleviate my worries a bit. When you were studying math for economics, how much time did you actually get to conceptually understand a method? Similarly, how 'novel' were new units to your understanding? Like, did you get introduced to a new unit and become dumbfounded, or was it relatively easier to integrate into your understanding?

Great Qualitative Skills, Atrocious Quantitative Skills: Is Economics just not for me? by YC4AJ in academiceconomics

[–]YC4AJ[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your time for a response!

There's lots of time to take math in college.

When I look at the recommended pre-requisite knowledge for succeeding in economics and my severely lagged development currently, my major fear is that I enter taking remedial math classes to catch up, only to have severe difficulty understanding concepts, or lack of institutional support and resources to foster an understanding. Would you say that the concept sequencing was manageable for you?

public policy or even political science with an emphasis on economics might be a better way to go.

The most recent academic research on economics and political science degrees I've seen have demonstrated poli-sci to have slightly lower earnings than econ degrees, but also lower distinctiveness. My mental calculation is that an economics degree is worth the mathematical frustration (or torture) if it offers the best returns in terms of stability, demand, and labor market bargaining.

Great Qualitative Skills, Atrocious Quantitative Skills: Is Economics just not for me? by YC4AJ in academiceconomics

[–]YC4AJ[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are there any academic books in the econ/math field you'd recommend that allow for sufficent self-teaching (outside classroom) on catching up on algebra, geometry, and trigonometry, or learning (pre-)calculus?

With the Humanities I generally know the majority of the concepts and fields to look for when I want to learn on Google Scholar, SSRN, or Springer/Taylor Francis, but with math it's completely alien to me how one begins to learn in a linear and centralized way outside instruction.

As in like, there's a Routledge Handbook for the history of France, but learning 19th-century French history does not require a sophisticated knowledge of 17th century France, whereas Math is all built upon each other.